Las VegasReshaping Water Policy in the West, Las Vegas Doubles Down on Conservation and Growth : A Conversation with Pat Mulroy

When the Colorado River was initially divvied up among the states of the growing American West, Nevada was mostly an afterthought and Las Vegas, then little more than a stop on the rail line, a far cry from the major player it is today. As the former general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Pat Mulroy, did more than perhaps anyone else to secure Las Vegas’s share of Colorado River water and, by extension, its current and future growth. Mulroy also ushered in an era of innovation in water conservation. We heard from her about the balancing act between using less water while bringing in more water users, especially as levels in Lake Mead, the city’s primary source of water, continue to drop.